Owings Mills Rolls Past Harford Tech to Advance into Region Semifinals

Tyson Smith netted a game-high 24 points and fellow junior Kyle Thomas added 15 more as the No. 1 seeded Eagles advanced to the 1A North Region Semifinals, throttling visiting Harford Tech, 92-51.

Owings Mills (21-3) essentially pulled away with a 19-1 run over the middle portion of a first quarter where the Eagles dumped in five three-pointers in a three minute span, including two from sophomore Ahmaad Wilson (14 points) from the wing.

“They seemed to make every three and we had some jitters and nerves early on,” Harford Tech coach Bill Jones said of Owings Mills’ 25-point first quarter. “If you don’t stop a team like that early, you can see what happens.

“They were very well coached. We knew they were the best around, but we didn’t know they were quite that good.”

After a Smith spinning, scoop layup put the Cobras in a 14-3 hole less than four minutes into the game, Jones spent a timeout in attempt to calm his squad down and perhaps cool off the Eagles, as well.  

However neither event ensued and Harford Tech (11-9) never could settle into a groove—on either end of the floor—and would trail by double digits for the remainder of the game.  

The Cobras were led by senior guard Dre Jones who tallied all of his team-high 15 points in the first half and whose sharpshooting from the outside allowed Harford Tech to remain within a reasonable distance, heading into break down, 42-26.

Looking to halt the open looks from beyond the arc, Owings Mills head coach Richard Epps opted to go box-and-one on Jones before switching to an overall man-to-man to thwart his catch-and-shoot ability. 

Juniors Carjahn Jenkins and Kevin McNair, both long and athletic, were called upon to lock down on Jones defensively.

As a result, Jones struggled for clean glimpses of the basket and didn’t register a point in the second half. With the Eagles keying on their leading scorer, Harford Tech couldn’t find a spark from anywhere else on the court and posted only ten third quarter points as a team.

Said Bill Jones, “The rest of the guys didn’t really respond like we had hoped, but it’s a learning experience.”  

With the defensive end squared away, the third quarter, offensively, belonged to Smith who tallied nine points in the period (eight in the paint and one at the line) and got virtually whatever he wanted by slicing to the hoop.  

The junior guard didn’t stop there, snaring an offensive rebound, drawing contact and powering the ball back into the hoop for an acrobatic three-point play to go ahead 54-30 early on in the third.

“He can score in a million different ways, but he’s so strong as a guard,” Epps said after the game. “If you look at him you woudn’t think he was that strong, but he’s actually better going to the basket than he is a jump shooter. All I told him is let’s not settle for a bunch of jumpers—attack the rim, and that’s what he did.”

Said Smith, who also added seven assists and five rebounds, “I just work as hard as I can so every shot will go in. I don’t like missing.”

Owings Mills takes on fourth-seeded Havre de Grace at home Wednesday night at 7 for the right to play in the region finals.